[The co-construction of change in community health service provision in Senegal]. / La co-construction des changements dans l'offre de sante communautaire au Senegal.

An experience of collaboration between researchers and the Ministry of Health of Senegal has encouraged the social uses of results from research on the health of communities. This article presents the contributions of partnership-based research to tackling health inequalities. Following a diagnostic shared with all the actors (practitioners and users) that allowed us to identify the reasons behind the under-utilization of well-equipped and renovated health establishments, three innovations were implemented: district surgery, complementary health insurance and flat-rate fees. In the four central regions of Senegal where this experiment was launched, the research that was carried out allowed for a better comprehension of the processes and challenges in 'co-constructing' knowledge between practitioners and researchers, in the context of relatively low access to healthcare. This article highlights the importance of this co-construction in encouraging concerted efforts to make relevant changes for improved, more equitable and more accessible local health services for communities.